


Reason To Feel

by CuriousRebel



Category: Detroit: Become Human (Video Game)
Genre: Angst, Father-Son Relationship, Gen, Hostage Situation, Hurt/Comfort, Post-Pacifist Ending, Sweet, hostages
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-08-03
Updated: 2018-08-03
Packaged: 2019-06-21 05:04:37
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 1
Words: 5,028
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/15550230
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/CuriousRebel/pseuds/CuriousRebel
Summary: The gruff police Lieutenant and the android detective stood side-by-side in the relative cold of the winter afternoon, both staring up at the building before them, a chill in the air that couldn’t be acquitted to the weather.“Alright, Connor, I want you to listen to me.” Hank said, his voice tense and serious in a way that made Connor’s processors freeze.The young android met the Lieutenant’s gaze,” What is it, Lieutenant?”His voice was breezy but somehow still accusatory. He knew what his partner was going to say, and Connor thought that the sentiment of “forget-about-me-and-think-about-you” was a little redundant at this stage.Connor and Hank attend to a hostage situation, and things don't exactly go to plan.





	Reason To Feel

**Author's Note:**

> I feel like I've been working on this fic forever, but in reality it's only been a few days, it's just that I'm super lazy and impatient. I hope you enjoy!

The gruff police Lieutenant and the android detective stood side-by-side in the relative cold of the winter afternoon, both staring up at the building before them, a chill in the air that couldn’t be acquitted to the weather.   
“Alright, Connor, I want you to listen to me.” Hank said, his voice tense and serious in a way that made Connor’s processors freeze.  
The young android met the Lieutenant’s gaze,” What is it, Lieutenant?”   
His voice was breezy but somehow still accusatory. He knew what his partner was going to say, and Connor thought that the sentiment of “forget-about-me-and-think-about-you” was a little redundant at this stage.   
Over the past twelve months – since the history-making android-revolution – Connor’s attachment to the Lieutenant (not to mention his big loveable lug of a dog) had grown and developed substantially. He knew now that he was perfectly willing to jump into the line of fire – be it literal or not – for his grumpy counterpart, and while such a sentiment used to register as an error to his systems, it now filled him with a sense of pride and belonging. Androids could not have a biological family, but Connor knew what it was to have one.   
“I want you to think about your own safety for once.” Hank said. Connor froze in his motion of fixing his cuffs, and let his eyes drift sky-ward in a subtle eye roll.   
“Hey, I saw that!” Hank barked, prodding Connor’s shoulder. Connor grumbled something as he leant down to retie his shoelaces. “What was that?”   
“I assure you, Lieutenant, I will think of my own safety at all times. And, considering that my mental stability is a key factor in my future safety, and given the fact that a large amount of my mental stability can be accredited to you, I will also be well aware of your safety.” Connor said evenly, without even a hint of irony.   
“Is that supposed to be funny?” Hank said as Connor straightened up again. To his surprise, his surrogate son smiled at him.  
“Trust me, Hank, if I were making a joke, you’d know.” And then the cheeky fucker winked at him. Hank opened his mouth to berate the android some more, but a call to action interrupted him.   
“Okay, men, we’re not sure of the exact situation, so we need to proceed with caution. I don’t want to see any heroes, I don’t want any of you fuckers destabilising the situation, got it?” Captain Allen barked through a megaphone. The task force chorused back affirmatives, and Hank pressed his lips together tersely.   
Connor had been called out to the situation because, despite his deviancy, he was still a brilliant negotiator. And Hank, well, you weren’t likely to find CyberLife’s most advanced prototype without his backup.   
The office building was eerily quiet as Hank and Connor lead the twenty man team down the corridors and up the flights of stairs. They came to a set of heavy doors, and the men split into their positions. Captain Allen waited for a nod from one of his men, then gestured for Connor to go. The android detective took careful but decisive steps towards the door, and once he reached it he flattened himself against the wall next to it. He glanced back down the hall towards his partner, who gave him a grim but encouraging nod.   
Connor pressed his palm to the identification scanner, and after a moment it gave an approving chirp and displayed his details on its screen.   
Detective Connor Anderson// RK800// #313 248 317 -51// Detroit City Police Department// Partner: Lieutenant Hank Anderson// Deployed: August 2038  
Connor still couldn’t help the fond smile that crept up on him at the display of his new surname. It had been almost three months since the law had been passed that required androids to register a last name and potential next of kin in the same manner that humans did, and Hank had been all too happy to offer up his own name for Connor.   
The door clicked as the catch was released, and Connor called into the room,” This is the DPD! My name is Connor, I’m a negotiator!”  
“Go- Go away!” A male voice called back, and Connor leant towards the opening in the doorway to see into the room. There was a young man pacing on the other side of the room, something akin to a bomb strapped to his chest and a gun in his hand. There were also four hostages, each one of them seemingly unharmed.   
SCAN COMPLETE// Busby, Aidan// Born: 07/10/2019// Unemployed// Criminal Record: Disturbing the peace, resisting arrest, anti-android assaults  
“I’m afraid this situation isn’t going to just go away. You need to let me speak with you.” Connor called back, keeping his voice calm and firm.   
The young man made a frustrated noise, then called,” Fine! But only you, I don’t want no cops in here! And you’d better be unarmed!”   
Connor took his gun out of its holster and passed it to one of the SWAT officers. “Alright, I’m coming in!”  
Connor eased himself into the room with his arms raised disarmingly. The young man pointed his gun at one of the women, who shrunk away from him fearfully. “You. Go and search him.”   
The woman opened and closed her mouth like a fish, obviously stunned at being asked this. The woman next to her gripped her hand tightly, and they huddled further into the desk.   
“Now!” He shouted, agitated. The woman jumped up and cautiously made her way over to Connor. She reached her hands out to him uncertainly, and he gave her a small reassuring smile. She reached towards his waistband and he lifted his hands higher to give her better access.   
SCAN COMPLETE// Kendall, Aliyah// Born: 12/06/2013// Researcher for Century Magazine// Criminal Record: None  
“His- His holster’s empty.” She reported nervously, not quite looking at her captor. He nodded distractedly, and gestured with the gun for her to go back.   
Connor put a hand lightly on her shoulder to stop her, and addressed the man,” This woman has done you no wrong. She’s done as you asked, and now I ask that you let her go.”   
The woman – Aliyah – held her breath, both in worry that he would anger the criminal and at the prospect of being let go.   
“And just why the hell would I do that?” Aidan asked, pointing the gun directly at Connor.  
“You would still have three hostages. Four, if you count me. There’s no reason to keep her here.” Connor explained, keeping his voice and features open and trustworthy. Aidan grit his teeth and lowered the gun slightly. He shook his head angrily and looked out of the window to his right, then said,” Yeah, alright, fine. Just so you know I’m not a complete psycho.”   
Aliyah looked to Connor as if she wasn’t sure that this was actually permission to leave. Connor gave her a small nod, but she still seemed unsure. Her eyes flitted back towards the woman she had been holding hands with, and Connor said in a low voice,” Please, you need to go. I promise I’ll get her out of here.”   
The other woman had taken notice of Aliyah’s hesitance and gestured urgently for her to leave. “Go!” she mouthed. Aliyah had tears in her eyes but turned and left all the same. Connor could hear the squeak of boots as one of the officers outside escorted her away.   
“My name is Connor. What’s your name?” Connor decided that this was the best way to open. A lot of people in situations like this didn’t like it when you already knew everything there was to know about them.   
Aidan’s eye twitched, but he seemed to decide that giving Connor this information would not disadvantage him,” It’s Aidan.”   
“Okay, Aidan, what’s your goal here today? Where do you see this situation ending?”   
This seemed to frustrate Aidan significantly. He turned his back to Connor – strange, Connor thought, for someone who needed to keep in control of the situation – and leant forward over one of the desks, “I- I just want you people to suffer! I want you people to- to know how I felt!”  
Connor could see that Aidan hadn’t thought this through. That made him potentially much more dangerous. He glanced at the other people in the room.   
The lady was still hunched under the desk, though she looked a little lost now that Aliyah had gone.  
SCAN COMLETE// Stanley, Emma// Born: 03/01/2010// Secretary at Century Magazine Detroit Headquarters// Criminal Record: None  
The other two hostages were both men. One was quite young, sat with his legs pulled up to his chest, rocking slightly and keeping his eyes fixed on Aidan. An apprentice, Connor deduced.   
SCAN COMPLETE// Heaton, Dennis// Born: 14/11/2022// Part-time education at Michigan State College, part time internship at Century Magazine// Criminal Record: Possession with the intent to sell  
The last hostage was leant against a pillar, biting his nails. He was sweating but his body language suggested it wasn’t Aidan he was scared of. He looked up and caught Connor’s eye, immediately ducking his head. An accomplice?   
SCAN COMPLETE// Phelps, Samuel// Born: 05/09/2008// Columnist for Century Magazine// Criminal Record: DUI, possession with the intent to sell, possession with the intent to supply  
“And which people would that be, Aidan?” Connor inquired, focusing back on the man, who still hadn’t moved.   
Aidan pushed off the desk and turned to look at Connor measuredly, enunciating every sentence by pointing his gun at Connor, ”You. You cops. I want the DPD to suffer for my mother’s death. She didn’t deserve to die. She didn’t deserve to die and you people took her from me!”   
INFORMATION RETRIEVED// Busby, Mai// Born: 05/08/1999// Died: 29/05/2039// Cause of Death: singular shot to the heart// Circumstance of Death: was killed by a riot officer after showing significant threat to Jericho leader Markus Manfred during anti-android flash riot  
Connor knew that contradicting Aidan with simple facts of his mother’s death would only serve to make the situation worse, and so he bit his tongue.   
“Hey,” Aidan said suddenly, once again pointing the gun in Connor’s direction,” Are you human? Or are you one of those machines?”   
Connor knew that his appearance no longer gave him away as an android. His LED was long gone, as was his CyberLife uniform – although it had taken him quite a while to make peace enough with himself to make these changes – and his social skills and presentation had gotten steadily better, and so it was almost impossible to tell.   
He weighed up his options. Both he and his mother had been involved in anti-android activity, and so Connor thought it was safe to say that Aidan might not be happy talking to an android. Then again, if he said he was human and Aidan found out he was lying, it could have disastrous consequences. That was something he just couldn’t afford.   
“I’m an android.” This was a fact that no longer gave Connor any kind of discomfort. He was an android, and he was deviant, and there was no shame in that. But the look of utter disgust on Aidan’s face sent a flash of what was almost self-doubt through his systems.   
“An android? And you said your name was Connor?” Aidan narrows his eyes as if trying to piece something together. “What model are you?”   
“I-“ Connor faltered. He could see where this was going. “I’m an RK800.”   
Aidan let out a surprised little laugh,” You’re RK800? The deviant hunter?”   
Connor nodded,” That was the original intent of my deployment.”   
Aidan didn’t seem to hear him, he was too busy laughing quietly. “Oh, Mom, you’d love this.” He muttered. He turned his attention to the hostages for a moment, then looked at Connor.  
“Tell you what, oh Great One,” He said mockingly,” I’ll let these people go in exchange for something you value.”   
Connor froze. Something he valued? “I don’t understand, what would that prove? I-“  
“If you really can feel things, there must be something you love. Someone, maybe? Go on, Pinocchio, prove it to me.”   
Connor was surprised at Aidan’s change in confidence. He didn’t seem at all scared or nervous now that he knew Connor was an android.   
“What could you give me in exchange for these people’s lives? What do you value, tin can? Your partner, maybe?”  
Aidan’s suggestion was like a punch in the gut to Connor. He was reminded strongly of that night in the CyberLife Tower basement, and how his emotions overrode his mission. Despite the enormity of what he could do for the android revolution, in that moment nothing was more important than keeping Hank safe. And now that the two had known each other for longer and shared the same home, Connor found that the urge to protect his partner had magnified ten-fold.  
“That’s not possible.” Connor said tightly, fighting the urge to ball his fists,” My partner is-“  
“Right here.” They both turned to the source of the voice, and Connor was mortified to find his partner standing in the doorway with his hands up.  
“Lieutenant-“  
“This is your partner?” Aidan said, incredulously, as though he was on the verge of laughter again,” So, what, Pinocchio and Santa Claus saved the revolution? Talk about pathetic.”   
Hank could see the tightening of Connor’s jaw, and said,” Alright, that’s enough. I’m here, so how about you let those people go?”   
“Don’t give me orders, old man!” Aidan barked, but gestured for the hostages to move all the same,” Okay, nice and easy now. They move over there while you move over here.”   
Connor had never felt such an influx of emotion before. It had been nearly a year since he’d gone Deviant, and while he and Hank had had some close shaves, this was truly an emotional turning point for Connor.   
He was relieved to see the hostages moving towards him and therefore towards freedom, but there was a dark, selfish part of him that wished they weren’t. He watched Hank’s back as he moved away from him and past the hostages towards Aidan, his arms raised.   
Upon the hostage’s appearance in the hallway, several SWAT officers moved into the room and took up positions on Connor’s end of the room. This development seemed to bring Aidan’s paranoia back, but kept his gun levelled on the Lieutenant.   
Connor had never exactly been in a situation in which he was haplessly emotional and fighting to stay calm and reasonable. But he knew that the situation – distressing as it was – would likely only end in his favour if he stayed level-headed.   
Aidan pointed his other hand – the one with the dead man’s switch in it, which made Connor more than a little nervous – at the android,” If it wasn’t for you, my mother never would’ve had to go to that protest. She would never have been shot. She never would’ve died. It’s all your fault! Well, I want you to feel her pain.”  
Connor didn’t even have time to respond before the gun was trained on him. Two shots rang out in the cavernous office space. Connor cried out as the bullets tore into him, both of them lodging into the wires carrying thirium to his lower bio-components.   
“Connor!” Hank shouted as his partner collapsed, his vision filling with error messages.   
WARNING: LOWER BIO-COMPONENT THIRIUM SUPPLY COMPROMISED// LEFT LEG BIO-COMPONENT SHUTTING DOWN// RIGHT LEG BIO-COMPONENT SHUTTING DOWN// MOBILITY COMPROMISED  
Aidan swung the gun round at the SWAT members in the room,” Get that thing out of my sight before I blow this place to hell! I’m sick of looking at that piece of shit plastic.”  
Connor sucked in air desperately to fuel his coolant system, but his programmes seemed to be going haywire.   
WARNING: STRESS LEVELS 80%  
“Mark, get Connor outta here!” Hank barked from his side of the room, and one of the officers moved forward to aid the android.  
“Come on, Anderson, we need to get you out of here.” He said almost gently, hoisting him to his feet.   
WARNING: STRESS LEVELS 85%// WARNING: THIRIUM LEVELS COMPROMISED  
The loss of thirium and the blinking of the error messages disoriented Connor, and for a moment he forgot what angering Aidan could do.  
“No…” He murmured, fighting against Mark’s hold,” Lieutenant, no, I won’t leave you!”   
Mark grunted and stopped trying to wrestle with him, and Connor abruptly found himself on the floor again.  
“Get it out of here before I blow us all to smithereens!” Aidan raged, obviously fearing that he was losing control of the situation.   
WARNING: STRESS LEVELS 90%  
“Connor, get outta here! That’s an order!” Hank shouted, beginning to fear for his partner’s life. Mark finally managed to get a good hold of the android and dragged him backwards out of the room and into the hallway, where Captain Allen immediately assaulted them with demands to know what was happening. Connor, having lost all control of his legs, could do nothing to stop this.   
Mark set Connor down against the wall, and Connor let his chin fall down onto his chest. He was exhausted, and his system was fried from the shock of being shot and his heightened emotions.   
WARNING: THIRIUM LEVELS DECREASING  
“You got some electrical tape or something, kid? For the bleeding?” Mark inquired.  
“I- I believe so.” Connor replied, pulling at his uniform’s pocket. He managed to retrieve the roll of tape that Hank had insisted he begin to carry with him.  
Connor glanced at the SWAT officer,” I hope you’re not squeamish, Officer Lee.”   
The android closed his eyes for a moment and took a steadying breath to calm his overworked systems. He knew that hesitating would likely only make the pain worse, so he shut his sensors off – which he found didn’t eliminate the pain entirely – and dug his fingers into the entry wounds to retrieve the bullets.   
He managed to wrap the leaking wires shut with electrical tape, but it caused him an intense amount of discomfort. He had to close his eyes again for a minute once he was done, feeling completely wiped out by the ordeal. When he felt able to bring himself round again, he’d almost forgotten where he was.   
THIRIUM FLOW STABILISING// LEFT LEG BIO-COMPONENT BACK ONLINE// RIGHT LEG BIO-COMPONENT BACK ONLINE// MOBILITY RE-ESTABLISHED// WARNING: THIRIUM LEVELS UNSTABLE// WARNING: STRESS LEVELS 95%  
Connor rolled his head to the side and found that Mark was still knelt beside him. “Man, that was disgusting.”   
Connor’s lips twitched,” I agree. Could you help me to stand?”   
Mark was visibly surprised by this,” You sure you’re going to be able to stand?”   
Connor nodded determinedly, already pushing himself up,” I’m positive.”   
They managed to get the android to his feet just as there was a commotion from inside the room, followed by two harrowing shots. Connor was running on his newly unstable feet before he could think, the world spinning as he ran towards the sound.   
“Connor, no!” Mark called as he grabbed a fistful of the back of Connor’s shirt and grappled him to a stop.   
“No, let go! Lieutenant! Let go of me!” Connor shouted, and his words were no longer those of an officer on duty, but instead they were replaced by an emotional young man scared for his father’s safety.  
“Hank!” Connor screamed, just as an explosion rippled from inside the room and nearly knocked everyone in the corridor clear over.   
WARNING: PROCESSORS MALFUNCTIONING// WARNING: STRESS LEVELS 100%// WARNING: THIRIUM REGULATION COMPROMISED  
All the synthetic muscles in Connor’s body seemed to liquefy, and Mark staggered under the sudden weight of him.   
No. Nonononono-  
Connor’s entire system froze, the emotionality of it shocking his processors. Mark lowered him to the ground, but Connor was already fighting against him. “No, no!”   
Connor managed to fight past Mark, who was also reeling from the shock of the explosion, and dashed past all the other dazed officers into the office space, which was nowhere near as chaotic as Connor had imagined.   
The officers who had been in the room had been blown back against the wall, and a few of the desk and filing cabinets had fallen on top of them, but they seemed to be okay overall, and were helping to dig one another out of the debris.   
Now that Connor thought about it, he realised that the explosion had been much smaller than he had been imagining. The space where Aidan had been stood was blackened and speared with shrapnel, and Connor went dizzy looking at the spot he had last seen his partner stood. He took a few more unsteady steps forward before collapsing to his knees, clutching his chest at the sudden ripping pain that tore through him.   
For a moment, he thought that the pain was coming from his wounds, but he realised that the feeling was purely emotional. A sob tore through his throat, and he doubled over so his forehead nearly touched the ground, spilling tears onto the charred carpet.   
“No, no, no.” He muttered, but his vocal processor seemed delayed, and it came out as one big slur. “Hank, no.”   
Connor was attacked suddenly with memories of home. Of their big musty couch and their shelves full of jazz and heavy metal. Of nights spent talking through Connor’s more complex emotions or spent comforting Sumo (and Connor, though he wouldn’t admit it) through a thunderstorm.   
There was suddenly nothing more that Connor wanted than to see Sumo. He wanted the dog to knock him flat and lick his face and drool all over him-  
And he wanted Hank to come and pretend to scold them both for being soft-  
And for him to lean down to scratch Sumo’s ears-  
And ruffle Connor’s hair-  
There’s a loud jarring sound of metal scraping against metal, and Connor jumped and sat up, his vision still blurred with tears. A few feet away, where several desks had been knocked over and piled up, there’s grunting and movement, and Connor’s sensors perked up immediately. Someone stood up among the wreckage and practically fell over a desk leg.   
SCAN COMPLETE// Lt. Anderson, Hank// Born: 06/09/1985// Lieutenant for Detroit City Police Department// Criminal Record: None  
But Connor didn’t need a scan to recognise his partner, and he rocketed to his feet. “Hank!”   
“Connor?” The Lieutenant seemed a little disorientated, but Connor was already vaulting over several desks to get to him. Hank could see the raw emotion on his android partner’s face, and he opened his arms to receive the relieved boy.   
Connor barrelled into his partner, and they collapsed to their knees together. Connor was sobbing again, his grip like a vice around Hank. “I was scared- I thought I- I thought you were-“  
“It’s okay, Connor, I’m here.” Hank soothed into Connor’s hair, gathering the android to him as tightly as he could. Connor pulled back a little to look Hank in the face, but maintained his grip on Hank’s arms.   
“Are you hurt?” He asked, searching the older man for blood.   
“Am I hurt?” Hank said incredulously,” You got shot, Connor!”   
“Oh.” Connor murmured, absently wiping tears from his cheeks,” Yes, I did. I assure you, I’m fine; I’ll be able to repair the damage when I go into standby.”  
“Jesus, kid, you’re gonna be the death of me.” Hank said tiredly, letting his eyes wander in shock over the state of the office. His words made Connor freeze up, and the android’s grip on his sleeve tightened. Hank pulled his attention back to his partner, and said,” Sorry, Connor, I didn’t mean that.”  
Connor nodded smally, keeping his head down. He was beginning to feel the effects of losing so much thirium, and his systems were slowing down, pushing him closer and closer to standby mode.   
“C’mon.” Hank urged gently, noticing his partner’s predicament,” Let’s get you out of here.” 

Quarter of an hour later saw them sat on the back bumper of Hank’s car, the boot open to shield them from the drizzle that had shown up and was getting steadily heavier. Someone had wrapped a large shock blanket around the two of them, and though Hank wasn’t entirely certain that a shock blanket could actually do anything for an android, Connor had burrowed under it quite happily and fallen into standby mode against Hank’s side almost immediately.  
There were reporters and journalists and news crews circling just outside the police tape like vultures, and Hank noticed several of them glancing at Connor as though he didn’t have the right to rest after an exhausting day. It lit a fire in the Lieutenant’s chest to see them looking at him like he was a piece of meat prime and ready for them to cook up on their news grill.   
Connor was intelligent and funny and sensitive – ten times more sensitive than any journalist – and yet they still treated him like he was just a tool who couldn’t understand that he was the butt in their childish jokes. The kid was getting better at handling them, though, and Hank was proud to say that Connor’s ability to deliver a good passive-aggressive remark at just the right moment was partly down to him.   
Once he had given his statement and wrapped up the situation as simply as he could, the young officer pointed her pen at Connor,” I’ll need to take his statement too.”  
Hank took one look at Connor’s relaxed face and held a hand out to the officer,” Can it wait? He’s had a pretty terrible day. Please.”  
Her eyes flicked between Connor’s slumped demeanour and Hank’s pleading gaze, and she smiled gently,” Sure. I’ll catch up with him at the station tomorrow.”  
Hank smiles gratefully at her before she walks away, and he shifts Connor’s weight from his shoulder slightly,” Come on, kid, let’s get you home.” 

The next day, Hank knew something was wrong. Connor seemed mostly fine, it wasn’t unusual for him to be quiet or pensive sometimes, but this was really taking it to the extreme. He had drifted in and out of standby all the way home, and once even seemed to be having a nightmare, or as close to a nightmare as Hank supposed an android could have.   
The longest he’d kept his eyes open was when they walked through the front door and were met eagerly by Sumo, who’s first reaction to their return was to try and flatten Connor. The young android had been as happy as ever to see the overgrown puppy, and had disgustingly let Sumo lick his face until his skin had nearly peeled back.   
The only other thing Connor seemed to have the energy to do was feed his ever growing collection of tropical fish before collapsing into his bed – which he didn’t strictly need, but Hank knew it brought him comfort – and falling straight back into standby mode.  
When he woke up the next morning, Hank had found that Connor was already awake. He was sat at the dining table, subconsciously petting Sumo – who’s tail was wagging so fast it was a wonder he didn’t take off – and looking troubled. He had practically jumped when Hank greeted him, but quickly put on a mask of simple tiredness and weariness.   
Hank wished that he could chalk up Connor’s behaviour to him just being tired, but he could tell that something else was going on.  
“Alright.” He announced, slipping into his coat,” I’m heading to the station to write my report. You comin’ with so you can get your statement down, or are you going to do that tomorrow?”  
Connor looked up at him from the same spot he’d found him in that morning, and smiled unconvincingly,” I might as well as accompany you, Lieutenant. It would be beneficial to my coolant systems if I were to get some fresh air.” 

Hank is a little unnerved when Connor still hasn’t spoken almost halfway through their journey, so he pulls the car over, much to the chagrin of the driver behind him, who honks and passes him way too quickly.   
“Okay, Connor, time to start using that massive mouth of yours again.”   
Connor looked at him at this,” Lieutenant?”  
“Come on, kid, d’you think I was born yesterday? There’s obviously something wrong. You’ve been wound tighter than an addict in remission since yesterday, you’re talking like someone crammed a dictionary down your throat, and the only time you call me Lieutenant anymore is if we’re on duty. So, come on, cough it up.”   
Much to Hank’s surprise, Connor laughed. Well, it was more of a short giggle, but it happened all the same.   
“I’m sorry.” Connor said, as though he wasn’t allowed to laugh, which was ridiculous considering the increasing amounts he’d done it in over the past year. “I suppose I’ve been thinking.”   
“Oh, yeah? About what?” Hank inquired, more than a little relieved that Connor had laughed rather than broken down crying.   
“Lieu-“ Connor stopped, smiled and amended himself,” Hank. Yesterday, I was…scared, to say the least. I was so frightened that you were- That I had lost you.”  
Hank had to swallow past a sudden lump in his throat,”…Okay.”   
“And, well, I suppose I was just thinking about how lucky I was to have been assigned to you all those months ago. If it wasn’t for you, it’s quite likely I would still be a machine. I would’ve had no reason to deviate if it wasn’t for the hand you extended, albeit a little unwillingly.”  
The car was dead silent for a moment, and then Connor carried on, significantly quieter this time,” You’re my family, Hank. You and Sumo are the reason I want to continue to live and to feel, even if it becomes difficult at times.”  
Hank was so emotional at the words that he dare not open his mouth, so he just hooked his arm around Connor and pressed a kiss to his temple, and mumbled into his hair,” Me too, kid. Me too.”

**Author's Note:**

> I was really worried about the characters being ooc, but I think they turned out quite well. Let me know what you thought! And let me hear any ideas you might have for stories too, I'd love to hear them.


End file.
